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Wednesday
July 14, 2010 Happy Birthday, ASI RadioFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI Any day that starts with cake is a good day. And this morning we celebrated a wonderful milestone – the two-year anniversary of ASI Radio – with cake, balloons and special guests during a live broadcast direct from our show in Chicago. As any fan of ASI Radio knows, our five regular radio co-hosts consistently deliver the best of industry news in a lively program every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET. Topics run the gamut, from advice on selling to big companies to building business referrals and using new marketing techniques – you name it, and our radio hosts have covered it. In addition to knowing the industry inside and out, Melinda Ligos, Andy Cohen, Michele Bell, Kathy Huston and Joe Haley are as snappy and engaging as anyone on radio today. Today’s Radio Show guests included Matt Bertram, president of Fields Manufacturing (asi/54100), which sponsored Tuesday’s full slate of classes, and direct marketing and business expert David Blaise. Both guests stressed the importance of keeping up with new trends and ideas through continual education. And, in a nod to Counselor magazine’s special State of the Industry issue, the Radio Show featured a game show-style quiz hosted by Senior Writer Dave Vagnoni. See how many answers you know: 1. What’s the top way to find new business in our industry? Online, networking, referrals, or asking your neighbor? 2. In 2009, what was the industry’s top revenue-generator? Bags, USB drives, T-shirts or pens? 3. What was the top market in 2009? Financial, government, health care or education? 4. Which region is most optimistic about the market? Southwest, Southeast, West, Northeast? 5. What percentage of orders from suppliers was delivered on time to distributors in 2009? 88%, 91%, 97% or 92%? If you caught our rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song, you know our hosts made the right decision when they chose a career in promotional products over an appearance on “American Idol.” And, anytime you miss a live show, don’t worry: All shows are archived so you can listen to them anytime. Visit the ASI Radio Web page for complete instructions. Happy birthday, ASI Radio! For more photos, click here. Let me know how ASI Radio has helped your business by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Quiz answers: 1. referral 2. T-shirts 3. health care 4. Southwest. 5. 92%.
Wednesday
July 14, 2010 State of the Industry Sneak PeekFiled under: ASI Shows, Research Counselor’s State of the Industry issue – our largest and best-read issue of the year – is about to drop and I’m offering a preview in Tim’s Take, a video shot during the opening day of our Chicago show. Click here to watch. In the issue, we report that both distributors and suppliers are abundantly more optimistic about the health of the market in 2010 than they were in 2009. What that tells us is that growth is here, and more is on the way. Even further, 63% of distributors expect to increase their sales and profitability in 2010, which is a good indication of a solid year ahead for everyone in our industry. Our data comes from separate surveys returned by distributors and suppliers and analyzed by Larry Basinait, executive director of research services for ASI. As Counselor reveals, the top three sales categories are health, financial institutions and education. I’m happy to report that doctors and health-care organizations are promoting themselves more, which is helping offset the hit the sector took from legislative restrictions placed on Big Pharma. The growth of finance and education comes thanks to government education and retraining programs now available to the unemployed. So, if you haven’t started chasing your local educational market, now’s the time. And, there’s more. The issue also contains a Business Planning Guide, which provides strategies and tactics for distributors to plan for business growth over the immediate and long term. Broken up into four time-based sections (immediate, 2010 fourth quarter, 2011, and a long-term two-to-four-year horizon), the guide offers advice sure to invigorate and energize any organization. Let me know what you’re doing to recharge your business by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
July 13, 2010 Celebrating ChicagoFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI We’re off to a great start at our show in Chicago, which continues through Thursday at McCormick Place. ASI’s vice-chairman, Matthew Cohn, hit the ground running this morning with an educational seminar for newcomers. The advice he gave to more than 100 people attending the session – “How to Get the Most Out of Your Trade Show Experience” (sponsored by Ariel Premium Supply Inc., asi/36730) – really applies to anyone, whether they’re here for the first time or a trade-show veteran. It all boils down to three main points:
To watch my first Tim’s Take with Matthew, just click here. Let me know how you make the most of your trade-show experiences by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
June 22, 2010 A Virtual Thumbs UpFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI We love feedback because it helps us continually improve our products and services. Of course, we especially love positive feedback because it makes our day. This week, during another of our popular Virtual Trade Shows, we got a number of encouraging messages and emails from participants. Here’s a sampling:
The June 22 trade show attracted top exhibitors, including Graphco Line (asi/57956), Ingredients Corp. of America (asi/62649), Logo Mats Inc. (asi/67849) and World Emblem (asi/98264). Each booth had an average of 812 visitors, and distributors spent about 47 minutes enjoying the show. But there’s always room for more. In fact, since it’s a virtual experience, there’s room for everyone. We know the all-day, online event is effective because exhibiting suppliers experience an average 24% increase in ESP searches the day after each show. And if you missed this week’s show, you can access it on-demand at www.asicentral.com/vts. Virtual events certainly won’t replace our bricks-and-mortar shows (Chicago is in a few weeks!) but definitely qualify as an added bonus. The next ASI Virtual Trade Show is Wednesday, September 22 from 10 a.m. -3 p.m. ET. Let me know how your virtual experience went by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
May 26, 2010 On the Road with the Advantages Roadshow in 2011Filed under: ASI Shows, News About ASI By his own estimate, ASI’s Nick DiNicola has logged about a half-million miles since the first Advantages Roadshow in 2007. He’s not done yet. The industry’s largest and best-attended traveling show just announced its 2011 schedule, which will take the roadshow general manager throughout the United States and Canada, including a first-time stop in Birmingham, AL (home of the Vulcan, the world’s largest cast-iron statue at 56 feet and 120,000 pounds). After nearly four years on the road, Nick’s seen a lot of country – and collected a mountain of trivia. In 2011, he’ll learn a whole lot more. In 16 weeks, he’ll bring together thousands of suppliers, distributors and decorators during 76 local roadshows throughout North America. To see the entire schedule, click here. And please note: Suppliers can now reserve 2011 space at 2010 prices. So far this year, more than 5,000 distributors have attended an Advantages Roadshow, where they learn new sales tools, discuss client challenges and needs with other pros while discovering innovative items that’ll give them a competitive edge. All in a few short hours. Top suppliers choose the show as their platform to introduce new products, making it a big part of their annual exhibition plan. To exhibit, suppliers can call their ASI Show sales rep at 800-546-3300 or contact Nick directly at ndinicola@asicentral.com. Just don’t challenge him to a game of Trivial Pursuit. I’d love to know about your roadshow experience, so please post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
May 11, 2010 Savvy Solutions Provide Keys to SuccessFiled under: ASI Shows, Members, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties I recently put MediaTree President Rob Watson on the “Hot Seat” at our New York Show to discuss how his company rode the Internet wave to become one of the world’s leading digital advertising agencies exclusive to the promo products industry. In my Tim’s Take video, which you can watch by clicking here, Rob describes MediaTree as hip and cool, and I have to agree. I met up with Rob and MediaTree CEO Bill Grassmyer at last week’s Counselor Awards, when Bill was named Supplier Entrepreneur of the Year. Barely 30, Rob was named MediaTree’s president in April 2008 after enjoying major success as the company’s director of marketing. Since starting up 15 years ago, MediaTree has developed online solutions for brands and Fortune 500 companies from Agway, Bayer and Coca-Cola to ReMax, United Airlines and Whirlpool. It works like this: MediaTree partners with select promotional product distributors to develop customized promotional and incentive programs. Having exclusive relationships with the most recognized online content providers, MediaTree offers virtually unlimited content and content combinations. Knowing the savviest distributors are now selling full, turnkey solutions, MediaTree took that same model and is now the solution provider for the online part of the equation. In my interview, I asked Rob about the credit quandary some distributors are reporting in this economy and he said the best solution is for distributors to develop as strong a relationship as possible with suppliers in order to obtain the best possible terms. His company further stokes those relationships by making sure company reps have superior sales sheets and PowerPoint presentations to take on sales calls to entice potential clients. Let me know what solutions your company is providing that set you apart by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
May 6, 2010 ASI Show New York: A World of WonderfulFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI I’m pleased to share the news that our New York show – which just closed – posted a strong attendance of 2,500 distributors from 1,177 firms. All told, distributors were drawn to ASI New York from 38 states and 13 countries, including 49 from Canada, six from Trinidad and Tobago, five from Russia, as well as others from Columbia, Honduras, the Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. With thousands of new products and services for the start of the second half of the year, along with three days of free, industry-specific education, ASI New York delivered 344 suppliers, including 112 exhibitors who weren’t at ASI New York last year and 178 not exhibiting at Promotions East. You know you’ve put on a good show when participants like Michelle Mickelson, of Dard (asi/48500) uses words like “terrific” to describe the show floor action. Jason Emery, of Logomark (asi/67866), told us, “This show has been fantastic. There aren’t many shows out there where we can write orders right on the show floor.” And Harry Rosenberg, of Ariel (asi/36730), who was honored at the Counselor awards with the Marvin Spike Lifetime Achievement Award, said they were so busy he had three people working the booth. Distributors like Ross Silverstein, of iPROMOTEu (asi/232119), loves coming to the city because there’s so much to do and said he left the show pumped up for the summer sales season. To read the press release with all the results, please click here. And don’t forget – it’s never too early to register for our next show in Chicago July 13-15. I’d love to know your favorite part of ASI Show New York, so please post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
